The Silver Locket
by Saskia
Summary: Draco and Neville find themselfes stuck in an enchanted forest, miles away from Hogwarts and any decent map. And all because of a silver locket, once belonging to Myrren, Draco's sister... (Chapter 3 uploaded! Don't get misleaded by the 4 chapter thing
1. Prologue

The Silver Locket

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Prologue 

When Draco was born, his father had finally decided to join Voldemort, a decision that would change both his and his families life forever. When Draco was three he was put in the hands of his older sister, Myrren, until another Nanny could been found. 

'Why me?' Myrren had asked, taking the little bundle her father had handed her wordlessly. 

'Because my cellars are getting quite full, and if you'd betray me it would only cost me the wave of a wand.' her father had replied. Myrren glanced over his shoulder and into the eyes of Draco's old Nanny. Eyes shouldn't be allowed to hold so much fear.

She'd taken Draco and walked to her new quarters in the Malfoy mansion, an old, unused tower in which her father had used to watch the storm when he was younger. Myrren of course didn't know this, and even if she had she wouldn't have minded. She knew her father's change had only been in recent years.

The tower was not only the highest, but also the oldest part in the Mansion. Myrren didn't know this, but she acknowledged that the walls and tapestries weren't decorated with the usual 'M's and serpents. She also noticed that it had been made out of the white stone that shaped the cliff and the land around. 

'Makes a change from that depressing black stone at the least,' she said brightly to herself. It wasn't much use. 

She sat down next to the slumbering Draco and stroked his cheek. Very, very gently. 

'Oh Draco,' she whispered, 'it's only you and me now for the next years, all alone in this tower. I'm scared, Draco, I think father plans something and I don't know what, but I know father. I wish…'

But she didn't say what she wished, but sighed and looked up at the window. Rain was streaming silently down the side, and outside were the blurred colors of blue and green. Quite without realizing it she felt for her silver locket that hung around her neck and held it tightly in her fist. Her thumb drifted over the little engraving on the side mirroring her chest. Calmness crept over Myrren once more as she held her locket and watched the rain fall.

The moment lasted, a little longer as such moments do. After a while Myrren's head fell on her arm and she closed her eyes, breathing gently.

Presently, the rain stopped.__

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Authors note: Hopefully this story will be completed, I don't know yet. I'm right in the middle of planning another story, but, frankly, I've been through it forwards, backwards, hubwards and rimwards already and I can't seem to get any further. ::sighs:: Anyway, I sort of know the direction this is going, so hopefully it should work… =)

For Alsia/ Izzy, to her birthday and for liking Draco ages before I did. ^_^


	2. And so it began...

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And so it began…

Draco sat on the edge of his desk in transfiguration class and watched the fun. 

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Not that easy to turn a brush into a hedgehog, is it, Potter? He thought. _Now look, if you wave your wand like that it is to be expected that some sparks fly off and on your friend Dean's robe. If it's not 'intapda', it's 'intahptha'. There, now you've made Dean's robe all spiky. At least the part where your sparks landed. He'll get a shock when he'll sit down._

'Malfoy!' 

Draco turned reluctantly and met the stern gaze of Professor McGonagall. 

'Yes?' he said.

'Please show me what you have done so far.'

Draco smiled sweetly and pointed to a hedgehog, which was sniffing the ground in a puzzled sort of way. A few blond hairs he hadn't bothered to remove still stuck between the spikes. 

Professor McGonagall bent down and picked the hedgehog up. She examined it thoroughly through her spectacles, turning it over and over. Eventually she set it on the table, and said: '10 points to Slytherin. You can go and help other people now, if you wish'

'Of course Professor,' Draco said smoothly, wondering how polite he could be before Professor McGonnagal exploded. He'd never seen her explode before. It would be an experience. 

He dismissed the idea of helping Crabbe and Goyle, who were hitting the hairbrush on the table in hope it would help, and was just wondering if annoying Harry Potter would prove as satisfying as the thought was, when a well known voice made him turn around and grin.

'No, Neville, you're not saying it right. See, it's "_intahptha"_! Say it.'

' "Intapda",' said a miserable voice.

Draco grinned and came closer.

'No, you have to pronounce the "th" right. Come on, Neville, this can't be so hard!'

'Come on, Neville, it can't be so hard!' Mimicked Draco in a high voice over Hermione Granger's shoulder.

Hermione swiveled around. She glared at him, while Neville looked over her shoulder anxiously.

'Go away, Malfoy,' she said in a cold voice.

'Make me,' Draco said, smiling pleasantly. He stepped past her and picked up the hairbrush Neville was still pointing at with his wand, and examined it. The only thing Neville had managed to changewas the rubber- topped metal into brown bristles. He'd also made the brush pointy. With a lot of imagination you could imagine it to be a snout. Without imagination it simply looked like a very deformed hairbrush. 

Draco shook his head and put the hairbrush back down. Hermione snatched it quickly, looking around.

'Professor's not here to help you,' Draco said mildly, pointing to Professor McGonnagal on the other side of the room, who was trying to stop Goyle from murdering the hairbrush.

'Get back to your table, Malfoy,' Hermione snapped and sidestepped him. 'Now pay attention, Neville-'

'She told me to help anyone who needed help,' Draco said, hardly containing his inner glee.

'Well, we don't.' 

'You sure look like you do.'

'Go AWAY!'

'No.'

Hermione swiveled around and pointed her wand at him.

'If you're not gone by the count of three I'll-' she started, but Draco never found out what she would have done. The world exploded into a mass of colors and sounds, and when Draco opened his eyes again he found he was lying on the floor, covered in…

'Spikes?' Said Draco, his eyes widening in horror as he looked at his hand. A groan from his side confirmed that Hermione as well had been hit by the spell. Though not as badly as he had, Draco noted disappointedly. A shadow fell across him and he looked up into the stern face of Professor McGonnagal.

__

Shit.

'Kindly explain this,' Professor McGonnagal said coldly, and Draco wasn't an inch relieved to find she was talking to Neville.

Neville crept forward. 'He- he- he-' he stuttered, pointing to Draco.

Draco grinned inwardly and tried to scratch his hand, not a thing to be advised while covered in bristles.

__

Ouch. 

'He was bothering us,' Hermione said quickly. 

__

Die, Granger.

'Is that so?' Professor McGonnagal asked, glancing at Draco, then turning back to Neville, who nodded mutely.

'Well, then both of you are to clean up this classroom, today after lunch.'

'But-' Draco and Neville started.

'And another word from anyone and I'll take 50 points from BOTH houses. Now get back to your places. Malfoy, Granger, to the hospital wing.'

The class dispersed, grumbling, back to their places. Draco got up, wincing as he did so. The spell had covered the front of his robes as well as his arms and part of his face in spikes. It was almost impossible to move without making one part of his body rub against the other, spiky part.

He got to his feet and walked through the classroom, ignoring the sniggers of the Gryffindors or the sympathetic noises of Pansy Parkinson.

Granger had left the door open for him. How very kind.

~~*~~

Draco walked swiftly through the corridors, peering around every corner before rounding it. _A Malfoy, looking around corners before he rounded them. Father would have a breakdown._

He completed the last corridor and finally found himself infront of the staircase that led to the hospital wing. Feeling relieved, he marched up it until he came to the large green door which separated the hospital wing from the rest of the castle. 

He swallowed the potion Madame Pomfrey gave him in one gulp, wincing at the aftertaste. He sat on the bed, moodily staring at the drawn curtains which indicated Granger was lying in the bed opposite to him. Neither of them said a word. The only sounds came from Draco's bed when he shifted, and of a page being turned over from behind Hermione's curtain. Where she'd got the book from, was Draco's guess. He lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. 

He tried not to think. He didn't want to think. He tried counting the cracks in the ceiling but soon gave up because it gave him a headache. 

And it didn't stop him from thinking.

__

You'll see your friends in an hour, Granger. They'll fuss over you, of course, the Potter and the crazy Weasel who's probably the only person in the entire school who still thinks he isn't in love with you. Neverless, he'll fuss over you and probably cuss me to the least, before you make him stop. You will, won't you. Because you're the good one. Because you're Hermione. How sad. How easy.

How I wish I could be like that.

But he couldn't. He was a Malfoy. Draco continued staring at the ceiling. His hand crept to his neck and to the top of his robes, where it lingered until it met the familiar chain hanging around his neck. 

~~*~~

Neville lurched down the corridor clutching the bucket of water Filch had given him. It would have been bad enough knowing that Draco was somewhere near without having the bucket hindering his step. 

'Need help?' A voice beside his ear said.

Neville yelped and let go of the bucket, which spilt water over the carpet. 

'D- Draco,' he stuttered. 'I didn't hear you come-'

'Quite.' Draco said, stepping out of the shadows. He smiled pleasantly at Neville and walked down the corridor, into the Transfiguration room.

Neville stared after him.

It was a while until Neville came. Draco suspected he'd lingered at the door for a while until he had plucked the guts to come in. Draco ignored the boy, who was trying to heave the bucket on to a table, and looked around the room. _So. That wall will have to be scrubbed, it's still got hedgehog goo sticking to it, the chairs and tables have to be cleaned, not to mention the floor…_

Draco rubbed his hands. 'Seems like we're going to have a lot of fun, Longbottom,' he said brightly, taking the mop from the corner and setting to work. 'And remember, no magic-'

'Yes, Draco,' Neville sighed.

They scrubbed and brushed in silence. Sweat was pearling down Draco's forehead as he tried to scrape something particularly nasty off the floor under a table. _At last_. He straightened up and banged his head on the underside of the table and resurfaced, cursing. One more wall and he was out of here…

What happened next was only his guess. He tried to straighten up and felt something tugging at his neck. He strained against it before getting to wonder what it was, and was rewarded with a '_pling'_ as the silver necklace broke and flew off.

Draco looked around wildly, cursing the people who couldn't even make proper tables, just as Neville bent down. 

'What's this?' Neville asked, picking the necklace up. 'Someone must have lost it…'

'It's mine,' Draco said quickly.

'What's it for?'

'It's just- _be careful where you're pointing that wand_!'

Neville looked down at his hand, where the wand was pointing at the locket. Then he looked up, and Draco was alarmed to see him smiling.

'What's it for?' Neville said again.

'It's just… just for keepsake. Memorabilia. You know.' Said Draco, watching the wand.

'Memorabilia? To who?'

'To... look, just give it back, alright? I'm sorry I made you carry the bucket-'

'_To who_?'

'My sister.' There. It was out.

'Your sister?' Neville looked puzzled. 'How old-'

'She's 19 years older than me, and she was only my half sister, alright? Anyway, she's not here anymore. She got lost. Flying on a broom. On the border to France,' he hazarded. 

Neville looked at him, silently. After a pause for which Draco wanted to throttle him ten times over he said: 'I'm sorry.' 

'It's-' Draco stopped himself quickly and put out his hand. 'Please?' he said quietly. _Give it back to me, Neville, or you are so going to suffer…_

Neville walked over to him and wordlessly held out his hand. Draco quickly made a grab for the locket. His fingers touched it, and Neville's skin.

__

A flash of light. Voices, screaming, above all a voice he knew so very well. Blood, mixing in with the colors which blinded him. He wanted to scream, but he didn't have a voice. He could feel the pain all around him, and with it the person he knew so well, crying, crying, he didn't want her to cry, stop, please…

'**Draco**?' 

Her. A name. Long lost, never to be thought again. It was there. He could see it clearly, with her face…

~~*~~

'Draco! Stop it, Draco!' Neville cried, trying to get a hold of the boy who was flaying about, kicking and hitting and shouting.

'Draco, listen to me-'

And then it was over, and the boy lay still, panting heavily. Neville crouched down, and touched his shoulder. Draco's eyes snapped open.

'Myrren,' he whispered, and pushed himself up. 'Myrren…'

'Um, in fact it's Neville,' said Neville, nervously. Draco glared at him.

'My sister, you idiot!' he hissed, and got up, swaying.

'What about her?' Neville said, straightening up as well and looking anxious.

'She's alive, and I know where she is,' Draco said simply. 'Where's the locket?'

'You're standing on it.' 

Draco bent to pick it up, but Neville grabbed his collar.

'Look, do you think this is a good idea?' He said. Draco looked at him blankly. 

'Well,' Neville said quickly, 'last time you touched it you went all pale and started having a fit-'

'Malfoy's do not have fits.' Draco said coldly, bending down.

'But I-'

'They don't.'

'Ah.'

For a second Draco hesitated, his fingers an inch before the silver necklace. Then he made up his mind, and picked it up, closing his eyes.

Absolutely nothing happened.

He straightened up, staring at it blankly. Then he looked up into Neville's eyes.

'You. Neville. Touch the locket.'

Neville hesitated.

'TOUCH IT!'

Almost automatically, Neville's hand reached out and touched the cold material with his forefinger. There was a flash, and both boys yelped, trying to pull free- but an invisible force was binding them to the locket as the world around them spun, on and on and around and around, exploding into colors. It was a bit like travelling with flu- powder, Draco reflected later, only much more scary and uncertain. Suddenly the world gave a terrible lurch and both boys landed on their stomachs.

Neville panted and lifted himself up on his elbows. 'Damn you, Malfoy,' he said, before passing out. 

Draco got a glimpse at their surroundings before passing out himself. Trees. Trees everywhere. 

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Great, thought Draco, and knew no more. 

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Authors note: I accidentally deleted this part when I tried the new chaptering system… my bad. Next part is in progress, but I can't say when it'll come up… Please go to my profiles page, you'll find a super picture there from **Izzy** which she gave to me in return for the story, which she shouldn't have because it was for your birthday, danggit! But it was so sweet of you anyway… thanks, pal. *hugs* 

Anyway, check it out! It's super! ^_^

Thanks everyone who reviewed! You guys rule! Well, all the people that read this story rule.. ::cough:: 

Have a nice weekend, all! =) 


	3. One Way Road

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Author's note: This is dedicated to Esty, my big sister, who shows me again and again that you don't have to live near each other to be close…

Small note to prongs: Sorry, but there is mild cussing in this as well. I just can't see Draco without it. I'm really sorry, that's just my view. ^_^

Chapter 2 – One Way Road

"…as White as Snow, as Red as Blood, as Black as the Wood on the Window frame…"

from **Snowwhite and the Seven Dwarfs**

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She always got up early, to watch the sun rise. There was something restful about seeing the sky get lighter, until it became fully red and the sun rose. Not the penny shaped thing you saw in the sky around midday but a huge red ball of gas that burned with **character**, stretching out over the landscape and bathing the white tower in a warm, red glow.

It was usually only those seconds that were interesting, and in any case, Draco woke up at about that time. Why he timed it always a few seconds after the sunrise was a mystery to her. Perhaps he was afraid to catch the dark.

He was still captivated by his dreams... 

A loud wail behind her tore her out of her thoughts. Draco had woken up in his cot and was standing up, his eyes rimmed with tears, stretching his little hands out to her to be picked up. 

'There, there,' she said automatically, and lay him on her shoulder and rubbing his back. The crying subsided as it had reached his aim: he'd got her attention. There were a few moments of peace as Draco happily gurgled by her ear. Then she sat him down on his blanket.

'I'll be right back,' she said brightly, and crossed the room to the huge fireplace. It was ornamental, and sadly decorated with various sorts of snakes. When seen from an angle, the two main snakes spelled out the word 'stupid'. That had brightened the occasion a little. 

She took a handful of grey powder which lay in a pot on the mantelpiece (just above the 'p') and blew it gently into the fire. She counted to three under her breath. For a second the flames of the fire flickered, and became white. A tray appeared in the middle of them. She quickly reached down and picked it up. A bottle of milk, a fresh supply of nappies, tissues, some washed clothes, and a silver plate with her breakfast. She inspected the plate. Burnt toast again. She sighed. House elves were a good thing, but she wished they wouldn't be so bad in the mornings. Still, house elves usually had an eight hour day, and 12 hours was quite too much for them…

Draco grabbed the bottle she gave him, stuffing it into his mouth. She watched him, grinning. It was almost fully light now. The sun glinted off blond hair. Myrren sighed, and tousled a little strand between her fingers. He was looking more and more like his father.

She left him to play in the blanket. It had a Scottish pattern on it. She'd acquired it from her travels. 

She'd also put another blanket on the cot. The carvings on there were enough to give **her** nightmares. 

A sound behind her made her turn around.

'Draco?' she said.

And Draco awoke, and the dream faded into the back of his head. He shook it, and opened his eyes.

He was lying on his back, and blinked as the world swam into focus. Above him was, and he had to concentrate, _green_. And the green had a name. A name. 

'Leaves,' he whispered. 

And all at once it all came back to him.

Draco groaned, and rolled over. Then he hoisted himself up onto his elbows and pushed himself to his knees. Various muscles and bones screamed at him in protest. It was worse than after his first real Quidditch practice with his father. 

__

Father. What would he say?

He gritted his teeth and got up, taking tottering steps until he regained his balance. He scanned the place for Neville, and spotted the plump boy lying sprawled beside the huge roots of an upturned tree.

'Longbottom?' Draco said and took a step towards him. Something glinted out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to it. The locket lay on the ground, shining in the sun. Draco glared at it and pocketed it. Then he turned back to Neville. 'Longbottom? Hey! You're going to miss the best part of the day!'

Neville's eyelids fluttered. He groaned, and pushed himself up. 

'Did the cauldron explode again?' he murmured, and slumped back. Draco grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and pulled him up. Neville was lighter than he had thought.

'Stop lazing about,Longbottom, and get up!'

Neville opened his eyes and looked up at Draco. Draco felt a slight pang of triumph as the boy's eyes widened with fear. _Looks like someone remembers yesterday's behavior…_

He smiled, and his eyes glinted.

'Get up, Longbottom. You and me have a long day ahead.'

Neville got up quickly. He looked nervous.

'Have you- have you found a way home?' he quavered.

'No,' Draco said simply. 'I've tried everything already.' That wasn't exactly a lie. 

'Have you- did you- did you try linking putting our thumbs together on the locket thing again?'

__

Darn. 

'Of course I have,' Draco lied. 'But perhaps we should do it again. Just incase it only works when we're both awake.'

Neville flushed bright red, and held out his hand palm up, his fingers together and his thumb stretched out.

Draco pulled the locket out of his pocket and held it between two fingers. Then, bracing himself, he pressed the locket to Neville's thumb.

He opened his eyes again after a second or two, feeling foolish.

Neville was watching the locket, looking anxious. Feeling like a fool, Draco pulled it away and permitted himself a smug look.

'Told you it didn't work,' he said.

Neville looked at him with a mixed look of horror and disbelief.

'You mean we're stuck? Here? Me? With you?'

'Admittedly, you're not my first choice either.' Draco snapped. 'I mean, look at you! A few hours away from home and you're already half in tears!' _Oh shit, why did I say that?_ Neville's lower lip trembled.

'It's my gran's birthday tomorrow.' He whispered.

'Too bad,' Draco said coldly. _Damn, he's really almost in tears…_

Feeling sorry for him, are you?

Of course not! 

'We'd better get going,' Draco turned around and stopped again. 

'Where to?' Came Neville's sniffing voice from behind him.

'Somewhere- there.' Draco pointed a little to the right of him. _That's right. I know it's right._

'There.' he said again and put a hand to his forehead. His head hurt. 'I'm sure,' he murmured. 

'Why?'   
'Because… Because there's something there that belongs to me.' Draco's mouth snapped shut. He hadn't known until Neville had asked, and even now he didn't know where the answer had come from. And his head was hurting…

'What belongs to you?'

'_Myrren_,' Draco whispered. There was a rustling in the trees, a whisper that hadn't been there before. Like a sound that has always there but you don't become aware of until someone suddenly mentions it to you… 

He sank to his knees, clutching his head.

'Malfoy? Are you alright?' Neville's plump, anxious face came into view. Draco glared at it, and straightened himself up, clutching his head.

'Yes, I am- fine.' He said, through gritted teeth.

'The locket's doing this to you, isn't it.' Neville took a step back and eyed the locket fearfully.

'Don't be silly,' Draco spat. Neverless he glanced at the locket suspiciously. After all, the thing had got them here in the first place, evidently…

'You're the one that's being silly!' Neville said with a sudden outburst of rage.

__

Oh, we're getting cocky again, are we? Draco thought and regarded him coldly.

'Am I?' he said, icily.

'You got me here in the first place! Now you can darn- _damn_ well get me out of here!'

'For your Nan's birthday, right?' Draco said sarcastically.

'Right!'

'Well look around you! Can you see a way out? Perhaps we could- could climb a tree and _fly_ home, how about that?' Draco gestured wildly to the tree beside him. Neville looked up it. Then he said: 'Where on earth _are_ we?'

For the first time the two boys considered their surroundings thoroughly. There were trees everywhere. Or, to put it in a better word, there were _tree-trunks_ everywhere. If you looked up, then maybe you could see the rest of the tree, or at least glimpse a hazy bit of green. 

Draco turned to a trunk beside him. It was, in one word, massive. He hadn't looked at anything closely before, and now he regretted that he'd done it. The trunk was greenish brown, and covered over and over in moss. A number of yellow flowers the size of Draco's fist grew on it. 

Neville finally voiced what they were both thinking. 'I feel dwarfed.' He said.

Draco mutely shook his head, staring up into the leaves. The tree went up fully straight for about twenty meters, until some fragile looking twigs spouted. The trunk also looked quite slippery.

'So much for climbing up,' he muttered. Then he brightened up. 'Still, we won't be needing much for firewood.'

A sudden wind came up, ruffling the boys hair and robes and carrying on through the branches of the trees. A few twigs the size of Draco's arm fell down and in to the place he had been standing before he, quite wisely, moved.

The boys looked at each other. 'Let's go,' Neville said, and for once Draco couldn't object.

~~*~~

They scrambled over the heaps of bracken. There were no paths, and even Draco's sharp eyes couldn't spot any animal tracks. It was as if the forest was only populated by trees- trees and small yellow flowers.

They'd been walking for a while now. Neville was being silent and stared sullenly ahead. Draco used the silence to sort his thoughts, which he did by beginning a diary.

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Dear Diary, Draco thought. _Well, today has been a day worth remembering. Let me rephrase that. Today was a day worthy of being forgotten very, very quickly. Let's see what has happened. Now: I got covered in spikes by a soppy, nervous Gryffindor boy, upon which we both suffered detention- together. During detention my necklace, which incidentally was sealed with numerous unbreakable spells, got stuck on a nail and flew off, right to the feet of the Gryffindor boy. The result is that I've been whisked off to this crazy place containing oversized trees, yellow flowers, no paths and, and I will stress this, a soppy, nervous Gryffindor boy who's afraid he won't be back in time to congratulate his Nan on her birthday. Sometimes I really wonder…_

He didn't complete his thoughts, however, as Neville suddenly awoke from his stony trot, blinked, extended an arm and squeaked. Draco stopped dead in his track, staring straight ahead over Neville's shoulder.

After hours of walking, they had finally come to human civilization. Or more, what seemed like the remains of it. 

It was like turning a corner and finding your foot hanging over nothingness. The ground just stopped, and gave way to the huge gorge. Mist filled it and rose up like a wall. How long it was to the other side was anyone's guess. 

And towering over the gorge was…

'A bridge?' Draco said, disbelieving. 'Here?'

He blinked, just in case.

The bridge was still there.

It had a gothic design. Two gargoyles, glaring at the trees and the forest beyond, stood on the two stone pillars that framed the bridge's entrance. Creepers were growing up there, undisturbed. The bridge itself was made from black stone. It looked menacing and evil, and reminded Draco strongly of the Malfoy residence. 

He couldn't see to the other side. The mist swirled and blocked his view.

He couldn't even guess how long it was.

He made up his mind.

'I'm going over,' he said, and took a step closer. He heard Neville clear his throat nervously.

'Look,' Neville said, hesitating, 'shouldn't I-'

Draco spun around. 'Look, I come from a house in which every second corner is hexed. You, on the other hand, wouldn't recognize a curse if it jumped naked before you dancing the conga.' He turned around and had a second look at the bridge. The gargoyles didn't look less menacing from close. 

Draco took a deep breath, and put a foot on the stone. Then he took a hesitating step forward, so he was standing fully on the bridge. When it failed to give away, he stamped a few times. 

'Looks strong enough!' He called to Neville, who was watching him anxiously. He took a deep breath, grinned for the heck of it and walked right into the mist.

~*~

Neville had stood rigid, watching the other boy carefully edge forward until he was sure that the bridge was stable. Draco had stamped down a few times, called something over- not that Neville had been listening, the rushing in his ears had drowned out every other noise- and had vanished into the mists. Until then Neville had stood like a stone, now he ran to the edge of the bridge and peered into the mists. He wanted to run forward, to call Draco, but he was afraid that any sudden movement would disturb some cosmic balance and the bridge would collapse, and Draco would tumble down, down, into the fog, and he, Neville would be left all alone…

At that moment he heard footsteps. A figure came visible in the mist, took on shape and became Draco. 

Neville let out a sigh of relief. 'Is it safe?' he called out.

Draco looked up and seemed astonished. He stared at Neville strangely. Then he looked back into the mists. Then he grinned, and stepped off the bridge.

'Go and see for yourself.'

'What?'

Draco sat on the ground. 

'Go on. Take a look. It won't bite, Longbottom.' 

Neville stared, then turned abruptly and walked out on to the bridge. He went quickly. When he looked around, the bank was lost in the mist. 

Ahead of him, he thought he saw something. Giant shadows loomed out and turned out to be trees. And sitting on the bank, his legs stretched out…

'So,' Draco said sarcastically. 'What happened? Why did you come back?'

'I didn't! I went straight across!'

The other boy laughed, grimly. 'So did I, Longbottom. So did I.'

~~*~~

__

Her dress was torn. And it was cold, but she was used to that. 

He was near. She could feel him. They had spent enough years together to have a close bond, and even if he turned out to be like her worst dreams…

She had to hope. Not long now. The locket would guide him. Yes, it might drive him mad or kill him altogether, but it would guide him.

Not long now. 

'Take care, Draco,' Myrren whispered. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Author's note: Another Cliffhanger…*her grin fades as she sees the mob with pitchforks* Ok, enough of that… *cough* I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to review… ^_^


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